Ewald Schmidt
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:9-11, NIV
Everything that God asks of us is based upon his love for us. It changes my whole vision of life when I understand that God’s love is the foundation for all I am and do. The Father has created this world because he wanted to, out of love. From this love, he has created us in his image. We were made to love and be loved. However, mankind has strayed from God’s original plan. We were lost without him, but his love kept on seeking us. His love sent his Son to this world to come and save us.
Jesus came to this world to share the Father’s love with us. As the Father loves him, he loves us. His whole mission to earth was focused on returning us to the relationship with God. He took everything that brought distance with God upon himself; he paid the price for all our sin. He came to restore us to being God’s children. He came to transform our lives, from lost sinners, to people living in the love of God.
When we come to know Christ as Lord, then he asks of us to stay and live in his love. This is the heart of our faith. Some people can get so caught up in a lot of rules and regulations. We think we have to do this to be good enough for God’s approval. Jesus cut through all the Pharisees’ religious red tape when he boiled down all the commands in the Bible to this: we are called to love God with all our heart, mind and soul. And, we are called to love one another as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40). Love stands at the core of our whole being; it influences everything we think, say and do. Does my life bear testimony to the love of God in all my thoughts and deeds?
When Jesus is Lord of my life, my desire is to love, just as he loves me. When my life is transformed by God’s love, I am living in harmony with the plan that God has set for my life. This brings about what I truly want in life: a life filled with the joy of the Lord. When I love God and my fellow man, then I experience the peace of the Lord. Then, my life starts making sense to me, and all around me. Where there is peace, there is joy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are my joy and my peace in life. Thank you for sharing our Father’s love with me. Thank you for transforming my life with your love. Please keep on changing me, so that I may be a channel of your love to the people around me. Amen.